Audio: Happy birthday Sterling Morrison

A few months ago I had a post ready for what would have been Sterling Morrison's 70th birthday... then I accidentally made it live months early, panicked and deleted it - and then promptly forgot to get it together again. This is therefore being hastily thrown together in my lunch break.

Half of Luna + half of VU photo courtesy of Stan Demeski

Dean Wareham wrote about Sterling's appearance on Bewitched in the sleeve notes for Best of Luna...</p>

In 1993 I received a phone call asking if we wanted to open for the Velvet Underground on their upcoming European tour. Yeah, right. A couple of months later, and there we were at the Playhouse in Edinburgh, sitting in the dressing room, eating cheese sandwiches and Scotch eggs, and listening to “Venus In Furs” through the little speakers. We had already recorded a demo of “Friendly Advice” with producer Victor Van Vugt, which we played every night on that tour, and Sterling Morrison told us that was his favorite track. We asked if he’d like to play guitar on our next album, and we were all surprised when he said yes. So far as we knew, Sterling hadn’t played on anyone’s record since about 1971. He was a lovely and unassuming guy, and when he passed away just two years later, I put on my headphones and listened to his transcendent guitar solo in “friendly Advice,” and I cried.

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I've shared this a few times before but today is as good a reason as any to share it again...